Electrical lighting has become commonplace in modern society. Electrical lighting devices are commonly deployed, for example, in homes, buildings of commercial and other enterprise establishments, as well as in various outdoor settings. Even in a relatively small state or country, there may be millions of lighting devices in use. Traditional lighting devices have tended to be relatively dumb, in that they can be turned ON and OFF, and in some cases may be dimmed, usually in response to user activation of a relatively simple input device. Lighting devices have also been controlled in response to ambient light detectors that turn on a light only when ambient light is at or below a threshold (e.g. as the sun goes down) and in response to occupancy sensors (e.g. to turn on light when a room is occupied and to turn the light off when the room is no longer occupied for some period). Often such devices are controlled individually or as relatively small groups at separate locations.
With the advent of modern electronics has come advancement both in the types of light sources and in the control capabilities within the lighting devices. For example, solid state sources are now becoming a commercially viable alternative to traditional light sources such as incandescent and fluorescent lamps. By nature, solid state light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) are easily controlled by electronic logic circuits or processors. Electronic controls have also been developed for other types of light sources. Advanced electronics in the control elements have facilitated more sophisticated control algorithms as well as increased networking of lighting devices.
Sensing and network communications, however, have focused on the lighting functions/applications of the lighting devices. For example, sensors may be provided in a lighting device to detect parameters relevant to control operation of the lighting device, and the processor in the device controls the source(s) of the device in response to the sensor inputs. Alternatively or in addition, a communication interface in each of a number of networked lighting devices may allow communication about the status of each lighting device to a system control center. A programmed computer or a person at the control center then may be able to send commands to individual lighting devices or to groups of lighting devices, for example, based on a decision responsive to one or more conditions sensed by some or all of the lighting devices.
However, these advances in lighting devices and networked systems have mainly addressed aspects of the lighting provided by the lighting devices. For example, lighting devices may be adjusted, turned ON and/or turned OFF based on monitored conditions, either by processor logic within the device(s) or commands from a central control. It also has been suggested that networked lighting devices could provide transport for data communications to/from other devices that may come within range of the lighting device and/or its internal communication interface.
It is also useful to monitor and respond to a wide range of other conditions that do not directly relate to lighting. A vast array of sensor types exists for sensing various conditions. In the home, for example, smoke, fire, carbon monoxide and burglary sensors are common. Often such sensing is locally implemented by individual sensing units, with no coordination. In more sophisticated installations, a number of sensors of various types may be couple to a communication device or system, which provides communications to a central system that monitors a number of enterprise premises or a number of individual customer locations. However, the individual devices and the networked monitoring systems have traditionally been separate and independent from the lighting devices in or at the monitored locales. Even in systems that provide combinations of lighting control and condition monitoring and/or communications related to both functions, the lighting and monitoring equipment are separate devices on the premises with separate power and communication capabilities.
Hence, there is still room for further improvement in lighting and monitoring technologies.